Hazel Kight Witham from Venice HS talks about her strike experience. There were a dozen of us, and you could barely hear the song we were dancing to: Aretha Franklin’s “Think.” But there we were in front of Venice High, dancing for public education and calling on our community to think about what they were trying to do to us.
Amid the sea of red shirts that flooded Los Angeles in early January, it may have been easy to miss those worn by the members of Eastside Padres Contra La Privatización. An all-volunteer organization formed in 2017. Eastside Padres is a leading force in the community struggle to defend public education.
Our strike empowered Los Angeles. The impacts of our collective action are not just those we can measure, like contract wins and the shifting political dynamic, but those that are more intangible, like the positive human, emotional, and spiritual effects.
With 48% of the vote, Jackie Goldberg took a commanding lead in the March 5 election for the open seat in the LAUSD Board District 5 race, outpacing her opponents more than 4 to 1. If absentee ballots do not push her over the 50% threshold, Goldberg will move to a May 14 runoff as the clear front-runner.
To have a sustainable school system, LAUSD must increase its revenue to fund schools. In the same week that the School Board voted unanimously to approve the tax measure, UTLA’s Board of Directors, the House of Reps., and chapter chairs agreed to endorse a parcel tax measure that will go to LA voters on June 4.
Lisa Napoleon Culpepper, an English Teacher from Bell HS, writes about her experience on the picket line during the UTLA teachers' strike in January 2019. "When more than 30,000 teachers picket in the rain for days, they are telling the world that something is terribly wrong with the educational system," says Culpepper.
Our strike was a watershed moment for public education: In six days, we galvanized the city, dominated national media coverage, won a ground-breaking contract, and learned that in the battle to reinvest in our schools, the public stands with us. With 34,000 members out, it was one of the biggest strikes in California history.
Our strike won an overwhelming victory on the issues. We launched the teacher strike movement in California and accelerated the teacher strike movement nationally. We made history. But what remains etched in our brains and hearts most indelibly is the togetherness, love, pride, and creative spark we felt on the picket lines and in the rallies.
UTLA endorsed and the right choice for school board member, District 5. During our six-day strike, Jackie Goldberg was a constant presence, speaking at rallies, talking with teachers, huddled under umbrellas in the rain and giving fire-up talks to picketers. She was on the line because she knows our fight was not just for a fair contract, but to push back against the privatizers.
Michelle King’s passing is a terrible loss — for her family, for her community, and for the Los Angeles Unified School District. King made education her life’s work, and she was devoted to upholding a public school system that serves all students.
